About Small Failures:

Small Failures originally set out to prove that living sustainably and living well are not mutually exclusive. My regular posting lasted about a year, until I was in a gnarly car accident. Since then, Small Failures has been on hiatus.

Jess' Other Blog:

Visit me at the Roughstock Library, where I currently cover messaging and communications. Recent posts include:

Subscribe to RSS headline updates from: Powered by FeedBurner

August 01, 2007

If you want to see something really scary, check out the interactive map of the factory farms living throughout the U.S., provided by Food and Water Watch. Click on your state, zoom into your county and BAM! Discover the warehouses of caged animals living in death and shit near your neck of the woods.

3 Comment(s)

Anonymous said...

It really is shocking to see the vast amount of factory farms throughout America. It's especially sad to see the ones in my area. On a more positive note perhaps, the Eat Well Guide is going on a tour of America to find sustainable farms and restaurants. I think it will be a great way to promote sustainable farming and living. Link: http://www.sustainabletable.org/roadtrip/home.php

The listing for my state is not accurate. I worked in government in another county, not that long ago, and we had gigantic problems with a company there which raises cows for sale on the Japanese market. Think "huge open pits of blood" and "untreated cow poop dumped into the river."

This "farm" isn't even mentioned, on the map. If those creeps don't merit a mention, I can't imagine the whole thing is all that accurate.

It is entirely possible that your neighborhood CAFO (confined animal feeding operation) that you refer to is not on the map for semantic reasons.

According to Food and Water Watch (the map's maker), the data is pulled from a 2002 U.S. census and relies on the EPA's definition of a CAFO, which is somewhat complex.

I'm not sure that a single omission necessarily renders the entire map inaccurate, although it should raise the hairs on the back of our neck to realize that there are likely even more CAFOs out there than are listed on the map.

For a detailed explanation of how F&WW created the map, see:http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/factoryfarms/factoryfarm-methodology